cross-fertilization

American  

[kraws-fur-tl-uh-zey-shuhn, kros-] / ˈkrɔsˌfɜr tl əˈzeɪ ʃən, ˈkrɒs- /

noun

1. Biology. the fertilization of an organism by the fusion of an egg from one individual with a sperm or male gamete from a different individual.

2. Botany. fertilization of the flower of one plant by a gamete from the flower of a closely related plant (self-fertilization ).

3. (not in technical use) cross-pollination.

4. interaction or interchange, as between two or more cultures, fields of activity or knowledge, or the like, that is mutually beneficial and productive.

   a cross-fertilization of scientific and technical disciplines.

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cross-fertilization British  

noun

1. fertilization by the fusion of male and female gametes from different individuals of the same species Compare self-fertilization

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cross-fertilization Scientific  

1. The fertilization that occurs when the nucleus of a male sex cell from one individual joins with the nucleus of a female sex cell from another individual. In plants, cross-pollination is an example of cross-fertilization.

2. Also called allogamy

3. Compare self-fertilization

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cross-fertilization Cultural  

1. The fertilization of the ovum of one plant by the sperm of another plant.

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Other Word Forms

• cross-fertile adjective

Etymology

Origin of cross-fertilization

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

We were somewhat at the tail end of that cross-fertilization.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 20, 2023

The garden pea has flowers that close tightly to promote cross-fertilization.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

“Artists come to experiment and try new ideas. This innately creates a cross-fertilization where the artists’ new ideas influence the Museum of Glass team and the team’s expertise influences artists’ work,” she explains.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 22, 2022

So he filled the 99-seat space with a nonstop mix of comedy, music and theater, whose creators ended up watching one another’s work — an organic, accidental cross-fertilization.

From New York Times • Mar. 13, 2019

Mendel’s gift was experimentation—the manipulation of organisms, cross-fertilization of carefully selected sub-breeds, the testing of hypotheses.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee